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Human Resources (HR)

It’s always struck me as a somewhat interesting paradox that despite the fact that age, like race or gender, is a “protected class” when it comes to workplace discrimination, we continue to talk about “millennials” in offensive ways that are a blatent compliance violation.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) tools are being widely adopted across a wide range of enterprises and industries. By executing narrowly defined, repeatable tasks, RPA bots can drive dramatic productivity increases and significant cost reductions. For as little as $10,000 to $15,000 a year to deploy and maintain, a single bot can perform the routine, administrative tasks of five to ten people.

Today’s outsourcers and shared services operations are expected to deliver not just cost savings, but also innovation, agility, quality and growth. At the same time the bar has been raised when it comes to expectations with customers having lower tolerance for mistakes, delays or poor service. In fact, Gartner rates customer experience at the top of CEOs’ priorities for 2017. It is the ability for organisations to respond and adapt quickly to both customer requests and changing market circumstances that can provide that key point of differentiation.

With all of the advances in Vendor Management Technology (VMS), some companies are evaluating the idea of managing their cadre of non-employees internally. Much of the value brought to bear by a Managed Service Provider (MSP) is typically in the form of process efficiency and consistency. A mature contingent workforce program can bring those same benefits - so does it still make sense to have this third party manage it for you and charge a transaction fee to your staffing suppliers?

The ever-increasing pressures from budget cuts and higher demand for services means local authorities are continuously looking at ways of delivering their services more efficiently and cost-effectively while also seeking to ensure continued high levels of service.

As a seasoned professional with over 25 years in the business, I possess demonstrable experience and expertise, and a professionalism which, when I recently found myself obliged to seek a new role, I expected to see mirrored in the hiring process: I believed the recruitment road to discovery to be a meticulous process underpinned by a rigorous, tried-and-tested methodology where there is due consideration for the predicament (which could, of course, feel like quite a belittling one) the candidate faces.

The UK’s Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the MSA) now means that businesses’ supply chains need to be safer, more transparent, and more ethical. While it’s hard to argue that any of this is a bad thing, the development has left a few businesses in something of a panic.